Toronto announces 3-year test run of waterfront shuttle service
· Toronto Sun
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Waterfront Toronto announced this week that it has selected an operator for an east-west water shuttle pilot project, to run from June to September for three years.
York Bay Marine Services will shuttle passengers between three stops, Waterfront Toronto said in a news release Tuesday. The western-most stop will be the Portland Slip, near Billy Bishop airport. The central stop is at the Yonge St. Slip.
The pilot project’s stop in the east will be at Ookwemin Minising, a chunk of land that had been known as Villiers Island before a rebranding in 2024. The eastern stop will provide direct access to Biidaasige Park, the island’s landmark green space, the news release said.
‘Unique opportunity’ for the city
Service is set to begin in June, but details such as schedules and fares have yet to be announced.
“Toronto’s waterfront is growing fast and we need new ways to help people move across it,” Mayor Olivia Chow said, according to the release.
“This water shuttle pilot is about building a more connected city, linking communities from the Port Lands to the western waterfront and making it easier for people to get where they need to go.”
R.J. Steenstra, president of the Toronto Port Authority, cited the success of similar concepts in “leading waterfront cities” such as Vancouver, London and Sydney, Australia.
“Toronto’s waterfront presents a unique opportunity to expand multi-modal access through new routes, serving both short trips along the shoreline and longer cross-city connections,” Steenstra said, per the press release.
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The news follows a major funding announcement on a different waterfront transit initiative.
Late last month, city hall announced it had secured federal and provincial funding for its $3-billion Waterfront East LRT project. Tim Kocur, executive director of the Waterfront BIA, told the Toronto Sun that once the project is done, the city should have a “ a 10-km waterfront-wide experience .”
While the cost is unusually high, city hall has emphasized that the 3.8-km LRT line will enable development of underused and historically rusty areas in the Port Lands. Kocur told the Sun that more work is being done to better integrate the eastern waterfront with the rest of the city, such as with a pedestrian bridge between Parliament St. and Ookwemin Minising.
Keeping tabs on previous announcements
The water shuttle pilot project also comes as travel over Lake Ontario is having a bit of a moment.
Hoverlink Ontario has plans to shuttle passengers between St. Catharines and a site near Billy Bishop airport via hovercraft . While specifics are still not available, the company said the trip should take about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, city hall is going electric with its Toronto Island ferries . The first of two new electric ferries is expected to arrive late this year.
The names of the electric ferries will be chosen based on a public vote, which ended Monday. City hall said those names will be announced this spring.